There are 166 article(s) tagged Tennessee General Assembly:

• April 2023

  • Judge grants temporary injunction on ‘drag-ban’ law

    The new state law, which prohibits drag shows where children might be present, would have gone into effect Saturday, April 1. 

    By Ben Wheeler April 01, 2023

• March 2023

  • Tennessee transgender legislation: A summary

    Members of the LGBTQ+ community show concern as proposed Tennessee legislation targets drag shows and transgender issues.

    By Ben Wheeler March 22, 2023

  • Memphis, national advocates rally for transgender youth rights

    The rally was hosted by OUTMemphis and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization. Other participating organizations included Choices Memphis and My Sistah’s House Memphis.

    By Alicia Davidson March 17, 2023

  • Significantly weakened abortion ban exception moves forward in General Assembly

    Tennessee lawmakers are close to amending the state’s total abortion ban to allow doctors to terminate pregnancies to save patients’ lives. But the amended bill is more vague than the original about when abortion would be legal.

    By Ian Round March 17, 2023

• February 2023

  • Health care groups and big political donors silent on trans youth bill

    None of the health care-related organizations that contribute the most heavily to Tennessee politicians is publicly opposing legislation that bans transgender health care for youth despite support for that care from leading medical associations.

    Related story:

    Tennessee House passes trans youth care ban, Bill Lee expected to sign

    By Ian Round February 23, 2023

  • Letter to the Editor: Two things to do to prevent gun thefts from cars

    House Bill 1233 and Senate Bill 1029 — requiring people to attend a safety class if they fail to lock up guns in their vehicles or boats or if they don’t report gun thefts from a vehicle or boat within 24 hours — would be a small, but important, first step toward fixing the problem the Tennessee General Assembly created in 2021.

    By Letters to the Editor February 23, 2023

  • Report details Tennessee youth mental challenges, access to care

    About a quarter of Tennessee’s children suffer from mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorders, according to the report. 

    By Aisling Mäki February 22, 2023

  • Collierville, Germantown support returning more sales tax to municipalities

    Both suburbs unanimously passed similar resolutions in their respective meetings Monday, taking a formal yet strong stance on the matter.

    By Abigail Warren February 13, 2023

  • Justin Pearson sworn in as newest Tennessee state representative — in a dashiki

    In a General Assembly dominated by Republicans, an incident over the dress code was the first test of how freely Pearson can express his values — without antagonizing colleagues whose help he’ll need to pass legislation.

    By Ian Round February 13, 2023

  • ‘Critical’ portion of Wolf River Greenway could get state funding

    The $10.3 million, if it passes the Tennessee General Assembly, would fund a 5.5-mile stretch of the greenway between John F. Kennedy Park and the west end of Shelby Farms Park. 

    By Samuel Hardiman February 10, 2023

  • Tennessee General Assembly advances legislation to ban trans youth care

    Tennessee’s Republican-dominant Legislature has advanced a handful of proposals that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and severely limit where drag shows can take place. 

    By The Associated Press February 02, 2023

• January 2023

  • Environmental activist Justin Pearson wins state House District 86 seat

    In his first race for elected office, Pearson easily beat attorney and former Shelby County Commissioner Julian Bolton in the Democratic primary. Pearson will be running uncontested in the general election.

    By Bill Dries January 25, 2023

  • Conaway: General Assembly provides plenty of column fodder

    The Tennessee General Assembly is the sure-fire cure for writer’s block. The problem isn’t getting 750 to 1,000 words out of whatever they’re up to; the problem is stopping.

    By Dan Conaway January 20, 2023

  • Legislative session begins without Barbara Cooper, but Clarion cook will never forget

    The late state Rep. Barbara Cooper always stayed at the same hotel when she was in Nashville. She grew close to one worker, who saw her as a mother figure and knew exactly what she wanted for breakfast and dinner.

    By Ian Round January 18, 2023

  • Tennessee recently spent $109M on water infrastructure but MLGW didn’t want funding

    Once again, state dollars didn’t flow to Shelby County. But this time it wasn’t an example of the state disinvesting in Memphis. MLGW says it can complete all the needed infrastructure upgrades with the funding it already has.

    By Ian Round January 10, 2023

  • What to watch as the state General Assembly begins its legislative session

    State lawmakers have arrived in Nashville for the start of the annual legislative session at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 10, and they are expected to focus on a big, car-centric infrastructure package, penalties for violent crimes and transgender people’s rights. 

    By Ian Round January 10, 2023

• November 2022

  • Proposed laws would ban public drag shows, treatments for trans youth

    On Nov. 9, Tennessee State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) introduced a bill that would ban drag shows in public and another that bans certain medical procedures and other treatment for trans youth.

    By Ian Round November 14, 2022

• October 2022

  • State representative from Fayette injured in vehicular accident

    Ron Gant, Tennessee state representative from District 94, was injured in a vehicular accident Wednesday night. 

    By The Daily Memphian Staff October 05, 2022

• August 2022

  • Tennessee’s oldest-ever lawmaker faces much younger challenger

    In Barbara Cooper’s state House district along the Mississippi River, 45-year-old business owner Will Richardson says residents are looking for “a changing of the guard.”

    By Ian Round August 01, 2022

• July 2022

  • ‘It’s not about policy, it’s about personality and effectiveness’

    In the Northeast Shelby County GOP primary race for the General Assembly, voters will decide whether they view incumbent state Rep. Tom Leatherwood of Arlington as effective or, as his challenger says, “lackadaisical.”

    By Ian Round July 24, 2022

  • Shelby County GOP state office candidates outnumbered, but outspending Democrats

    Democrats have raised more money, but GOP candidates are spending faster and have more cash on hand. That’s due in large part to Brent Taylor’s largely self-financed state Senate campaign.

    By Ian Round July 18, 2022

• June 2022

  • Guest column: General Assembly’s Jones Act resolution supports maritime industry

    The Jones Act — the bedrock law of American maritime — supports more than 20,000 jobs and $4.5 billion in economic output in Tennessee.

    By George Leavell June 29, 2022

  • While other areas quickly fill legislative vacancies, Shelby County has reasons to wait

    Republican-controlled county commissions in other parts of Tennessee have moved fast when state legislative seats open up, appointing replacements in less than a month.

    By Ian Round June 16, 2022

• May 2022

  • A broader look into factors contributing to school shootings

    An incident involving a student with a gun at White Station High School last week, following on the heels of the Uvalde, Texas, mass school shooting earlier in the week, was but the latest reminder of the increasing frequency of mass shootings. Leaders continue to struggle to find solutions. 

    By Julia Baker, Ian Round May 29, 2022

  • Conaway: Tennessee is guided by rustic values, its legislature is guided by rusty minds

    Tracy City is representative of the majority of people in the Tennessee General Assembly. Repressing progress, fighting change.

    By Dan Conaway May 20, 2022